16th West Nile-Related Death In Dallas County

DALLAS COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) – Officials with Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS) are reporting that a sixteenth person there has died from West Nile Virus-related health issues.

The man that died lived in the 75228 zip code, which is bordered by Garland Road, Interstate-635 and I-30 in the city of Dallas.

According to DCHHS Director Zachary Thompson, the victim was in his 40s and actually passed away a few weeks ago, but took some time to confirm his cause of death.

“We’ll be monitoring until the end of October,” Thompson said. “We’ve seen a significant drop [in cases], like Friday we had no human cases reported. Today we may have maybe two or three, so that’s a good sign that we’re at the end of West Nile season.”

In Dallas County alone there have been 371 human cases of West Nile reported, the most in North Texas.

Dallas County has fought mosquito infestation with ground and aerial spraying, but say the West Nile threat should still be considered a major public health concern.

“This West Nile Virus is gonna be with us for years to come, based on the fact that it’s been in this country since 1999,” Thompson said. “So, we just have to use that insect repellent. Eighty-percent of the individuals that we interviewed that were infected said they were not wearing inset repellent.”

The Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services has asked people to use the D’s method when fighting West Nile:

• Use insect repellents that contain DEET
• Drain any standing water
• Dress in long, loose and light-colored clothing and
• Take extra care to use repellent and protective clothing from Dusk to Dawn.